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Clare news, sport, entertainment and local notesMon, 29 Jul 2019 09:43:01 +0000en-GB
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3232Derry’s Susan McKay to speak at Scariff Harbour Festivalhttps://clarechampion.ie/derrys-susan-mckay-to-speak-at-scariff-harbour-festival/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=derrys-susan-mckay-to-speak-at-scariff-harbour-festival
Mon, 29 Jul 2019 09:43:01 +0000http://newsclarechampion.flywheelsites.com/?p=72438Ahead of her upcoming appearance at the annual Scariff Harbour Festival next month, Derry born author, journalist and broadcaster Susan McKay tells Carol Byrne that Brexit “is an unnecessary block that has been put in the way of peace in Ireland but it will have to be overcome”. SUSAN McKay has said “It is important …

]]>Ahead of her upcoming appearance at the annual Scariff Harbour Festival next month, Derry born author, journalist and broadcaster Susan McKay tells Carol Byrne that Brexit “is an unnecessary block that has been put in the way of peace in Ireland but it will have to be overcome”.

SUSAN McKay has said “It is important to realise that awful as Brexit may be it is not the end of the world” and while economically is will be “disastrous for the North” the people of the island of Ireland will still be able to work together afterwards.

“Brexit, economically is just going to be disastrous for the North. It’s going to be problematic in terms of North South communications. My own preference would have been for a new referendum at a much earlier stage than this, but it all seems to be hurtling towards a pretty bad end at this point. But I think it is important to realise that awful as Brexit may be, it is not the end of the world, and we will still be able to work together afterwards and we have to commit to doing that. It is an unnecessary block that has been put in the way of peace in Ireland but it will have to be overcome, we don’t have any choice. If it is put in place then we will have to live with it,” she said.

Susan is to officially launch the Waterways Ireland Scariff Habour Festival on Friday August 2 at the Waterways Marina at 6pm and will deliver the annual festival highlight, a talk at Scariff Library on Saturday August 3 at 3pm. Here she will focus in on the border issue, Brexit, and the death of her friend Lyra McKee. She also welcomes audience participation in the discussion.

“I will talk about how important the North South connection is and I want to talk about Lyra McKee and how she stood for people communicating. Lyra was of the opinion that people needed to not be judgemental of other people’s level knowledge but to be constantly willing to talk about things” she said.

Susan and Lyra were good friends and a thread in Lyra’s writing prior to her murder in April of this year surrounded the level of understanding people in South had of the North.

“I think a lot of people in the North are quite shocked at how little people in the South know about the North. I think it is important to deal with that by talking rather than just by giving out about people in the South not knowing. So I’m looking forward to having that conversation,” she said.

The books Susan is probably most well known for include Sophia’s Story, which is about Sophia McColgan whose father was sentenced to prison for the serial rape and abuse of his children over many years in 1995. He had first raped Sophia when she was only six. The records a triumph of the human spirit in the face of the most degrading and destructive betrayal of trust.

She also wrote Bear in Mind These Dead, which is about the conflicts in the North and the legacy it has left.

“I will talk about the way that Lyra McKee wrote about that legacy, that she was from a younger generation who didn’t live through the Troubles but has still been impacted by it, so it shows how really crucial it is that we take every step possible to avoid a return to violence because it doesn’t just effect the generation that is there when it happening it also casts a shadow over future generations” Susan outlined.

The instability with the collapse of the Northern Ireland Assembly has in Susan’s opinion undoubtedly led to the unrest in the North.

“Creating a political vacuum is always risky in Northern Ireland and always has been. There is ample evidence that a political vacuum attracts violence. So I think obviously what happened to Lyra should represent a warning. This has been an opportunity for people who never accepted the Peace Process to insert themselves, and the same on the Loyalist side. You have seen a lot of belligerent talk in Belfast over the 11th Night bonfires,” she said.

The Derry born writer has said that for many the existence of a border had “all but disappeared in many ways”. While she said not in all ways by any means most people had become comfortable with that.

“That is going to change now and for border places like Derry, where I am from, it is going to be very difficult and for places like Enniskillen, which has the link with Scariff because of the Shannon. It is just going to become much more problematic because of the border,” she said.

Susan is currently working on her next book, which will focus on borders, rather than specifically the Irish border.

As a person who comes from beside the water in Derry in the far North West she is appreciative of the ethos and message behind The Scariff Harbour Festival and is looking forward to being involved this year and fostering those links through the Waterways.

Susan herself has always had a connection with the waterways, not only having grown up by the sea but now having settled in the Republic she now lives in North County Dublin right by the sea. .

“I think it is really really important to have an input from Northerners in the South of Ireland. I think it is brilliant to have events that actually note the friendly relationships which exist between Northerners and Southerners. The fact that the rivers run freely the length of the country and that I think recognising Ireland as an island with its waterways, its lakes and its seas is a unifying thing,” she said.

She enjoys meeting with people from the Republic in the North and in Enniskillen where they are enjoying the beautiful Lough Erne scenery. “For some of them maybe it is the first time they have come up there and people are often dazzled by how lovely it is”.

She said having looked at the long list of distinguished guests the Scariff Harbour Festival has had over the years she is really looking forward to the event and to being on Lough Derg and meeting people locally.

“I think it is a really commendable tradition to have Northerners down to open the festival, it is fantastic to be involved,” she concluded.

In this weeks Champion Report we discuss the sad passing of HPV vaccine campaigner Laura Brennan, the stepping down of Shannon Group CEO Matthew Thomas, an unusual confession practice which had been operating in Cratloe, and our special guest this week is Shannon resident but Derry native, Charlie Morrison who discusses Bloody Sunday.

]]>“They were trained to kill and they should never have been sent into Derry”https://clarechampion.ie/they-were-trained-to-kill-and-they-should-never-have-been-sent-into-derry/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=they-were-trained-to-kill-and-they-should-never-have-been-sent-into-derry
Fri, 22 Mar 2019 09:35:35 +0000http://newsclarechampion.flywheelsites.com/?p=70407SHANNON resident and Derry man Charlie Morrison was a friend to two of the Bloody Sunday dead and this week he said he is “absolutely disgusted” that just one British soldier will be prosecuted for their role in the atrocity. Charlie has lived in Shannon since 1970 but has always maintained close ties to home …

]]>SHANNON resident and Derry man Charlie Morrison was a friend to two of the Bloody Sunday dead and this week he said he is “absolutely disgusted” that just one British soldier will be prosecuted for their role in the atrocity.

Charlie has lived in Shannon since 1970 but has always maintained close ties to home and had been there just a few days before the ill-fated march, at which his two friends were killed. “I was in Derry the week before on business and I knew the march was taking place but I had no intention of joining it. I thought it would happen and that would be the end of it. Two of my very good friends were Barney McGuigan and Gerry McKinney. There is a famous photo of Barney lying on the ground with a big pool of blood around his head. I met Barney and he had just started a new job because the factory we had worked in closed. He wanted me to go and see a new sports club he had joined but I hadn’t time.

“When I left him, I drove down into the Bogside and I met Gerry McKinney. Gerry had stared an engineering company and he wanted to come down to me, meet some of the engineering companies down here and maybe get some work from them. That was the week before and the two of them were shot dead.”

As word reached Shannon of the events of Bloody Sunday, he went to the phone box at the bottom of Aidan Park and called the Derry Journal, where he found out that his friends were among those shot by the British Army.

At that stage, he knew it was time to go back home.“My wife and me left here on Bloody Sunday evening and headed to Derry. I was living in Finian Park at the time and the people around Finian got a collection together and we bought an enormous wreath.”

They visited the houses of the dead in the tight-knit community and he remembers a terrible atmosphere of shock in the city. “I’ll never forget, I went down through the centre of Derry the next day. There was nobody about and the silence was unbelievable. It was a weird, weird feeling.”

His two friends were callously murdered but there is no prosecution planned in relation to either of their deaths. “Barney McGuigan, my friend, was in cover and heard this lad moaning in the middle of the road. He went to help him and people were telling him ‘don’t go out there, they’ll shoot you’. He said ‘no, I’ll wave a white hanky’. There’s no way they didn’t see the white hanky, their rifles had telescopic sights. They shot him in the eye. A bullet went right through his eye into the back of his head and killed him.

“Gerry was in cover as well. He was a businessman, always dressed very well and he came out from cover with his hands up and he said to the soldier ‘don’t shoot’. And the soldier got down on one knee and shot him, right through the side.”

Another person who was injured but survived the terrible events of that day came to stay with Charlie afterwards. “One of the lads called Seosamh McMahon was shot in the stomach but he survived. He waslying on the road. He saw the feet of a soldier who was going over to check if people were alive or dead. As they came towards him, he just lay there and let on he was dead so they just passed by. When they were taking him to hospital, he was going in and out of consciousness and as they were going in the main door, an army officer was standing there and he told the nurses, take him to the morgue, he’ll be dead when you get there. But he survived and he came down to stay with me for a while. Then, of course, Charlie Nash, the boxer, his brother was killed and the father was shot as
well. Of course, Charlie hit one of the policemen because he made a remark when he got to the hospital. Charlie hit him and knocked him out.”

The Parachute Regiment, which carried out the atrocity and subsequently covered it up, were totally unsuitable for the role they were given in the North, he feels, and history surely bears him out, as they were also behind the Ballymurphy massacre.

“It was a terrible time and it’s [Bloody Sunday] something that will never, never be forgotten. The same paratroopers did the same thing in Ballymurphy, exactly the same thing. They went as far as shooting a priest, who was down on his two knees giving the last rites to a man who had been shot. They were animals just, that’s the way they were trained. They were trained to kill and they should never have been sent into Derry,” he concluded.

Charlie Morrison is interviewed from 11:50 on this week’s episode of our current affairs podcast, The Champion Report, available here:

]]>Tributes to the late Martin McGuinnesshttps://clarechampion.ie/tributes-to-the-late-martin-mcguinness/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=tributes-to-the-late-martin-mcguinness
Tue, 21 Mar 2017 10:15:44 +0000http://newsclarechampion.flywheelsites.com/?p=51292The President Michael D Higgins has led tributes to the former Northern Ireland Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, who died early this morning. Mr McGuinness, a former IRA leader in Derry, emerged as a key Sinn Féin political figure in the North and played a significant role in the peace process and forging the Good …

]]>The President Michael D Higgins has led tributes to the former Northern Ireland Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, who died early this morning.

Mr McGuinness, a former IRA leader in Derry, emerged as a key Sinn Féin political figure in the North and played a significant role in the peace process and forging the Good Friday Agreement.

“The world of politics and the people across this island will miss the leadership he gave, shown most clearly during the difficult times of the peace process, and his commitment to the values of genuine democracy that he demonstrated in the development of the institutions in Northern Ireland,” the President said.

He added, “As President of Ireland, I wish to pay tribute to his immense contribution to the advancement of peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland – a contribution which has rightly been recognised across all shades of opinion.

“Our paths have crossed many times in recent years at official events, including most recently at the GPO for the 1916 commemorations, as well as in our celebrations of ‘the beautiful game’, at Glentoran and in France at the European Championships.”

Taoiseach Enda Kenny described Mr McGuinness as “one of the chief architects of the Good Friday Agreement and he worked resolutely in the years that followed it in pursuit of its full implementation. “

Mr Kenny said Mr McGuinness “strove to make Northern Ireland a better place for everyone, regardless of background or tradition”.

Mr McGuinness stood down as Deputy First Miniser in January in protest at the DUP’s handling of the ‘cash for ash’ energy scandal, triggering a snap election. Ten days later, he announced his retirement from politics.

Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams TD said, “Throughout his life Martin showed great determination, dignity and humility and it was no different during his short illness. He was a passionate republican who worked tirelessly for peace and reconciliation and for the re-unification of his country.”

]]>Footballers must meet Cork with intensityhttps://clarechampion.ie/footballers-must-meet-cork-with-intensity/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=footballers-must-meet-cork-with-intensity
Sat, 04 Mar 2017 07:16:12 +0000http://newsclarechampion.flywheelsites.com/?p=51031FOLLOWING their three league defeats in 2016, all away from home, Clare won their subsequent games. Their reaction to those losses is why they are currently playing Division 2 football. A similar reaction is now required if Clare are to avoid a struggle to hold their current status. Outside of the panel and management, very …

]]>FOLLOWING their three league defeats in 2016, all away from home, Clare won their subsequent games. Their reaction to those losses is why they are currently playing Division 2 football. A similar reaction is now required if Clare are to avoid a struggle to hold their current status. Outside of the panel and management, very few Clare people expected them to beat Galway in Salthill last Sunday.

However, there was a definite expectation that Clare would compete hard for the hour and 10 minutes and, at the very least, push Galway. That did not happen, which was the most disappointing aspect of their display.

In most of their league and championship games, over the last three seasons in particular, Clare have brought an honesty of effort to the field. Whatever the result, that effort level has not often dipped. It did last Sunday, though. Their tackling, tracking, support play, decision making when in possession and a cutting desire to win 50/50 ball was well short of what is needed in Division 2.

Weather conditions were exceptionally difficult but the basics of Clare’s game were lacking. Unless they considerably brush up on these basics, they will not live with Cork either.

Cork beat Fermanagh 1-14 to 1-9 in Pairc Uí Rínn last weekend and join Clare on three points in the table. They drew their first game away to Galway, before losing to Kildare in Newbridge. Both Clare and Cork are just one point off the bottom of the table and two adrift of Galway. Every game in this division assumes a huge significance, particularly after Down and Derry’s victories over Meath and Kildare in Round 3.

Clare will again be without Gary Brennan and Seán Collins on Sunday and their absence, along with Shane McGrath, who has withdrawn from the panel, leaves a void in terms of depth on the bench. While all of Clare’s substitutes against Galway are very capable footballers, few of them have much experience at this level and, in fact, sub-goalkeeper Pierce Deloughrey and Seanie Malone were the only subs to have started a league game. That leaves nine subs who don’t have a league start between them.

Therefore, Clare will have to aim to take control of the game with the 15 who start and hope that any of the substitutes brought in will take to the field with Clare in a winning position and not chasing the game.

Cork are speckled with some outstanding footballers in captain Paul Kerrigan, Donncha O’Connor, Brian O’Driscoll and full-back Michael Shields. However, this side is definitely not on a level with other Cork teams from around the late 2000s. They would not have been relegated from Division 1 if they were.

That said, Cork will travel to Ennis relatively confidently. They will expect a decent challenge from Clare but not one that will derail them. Clare will have to meet Cork with a ferocity, unity and vehemence not evident last Sunday.

Every Clare man needs to up his game, on and off the ball. In fact, how they position and apply themselves when Cork have possession will have a significant bearing on the result. A viewing of the DVD of the Galway game should be enough to drive it home that similar lethargy on Sunday will result in a second successive defeat.

After Sunday, Clare will not play again until March 19, when they travel to play Fermanagh in Enniskilleen. That will be followed by another away game to Kildare in Newbridge.

Therefore, Clare will not play at home again until they take on Meath on April 2. A result on Sunday would be a significant lift and, in practical terms, a huge help.

Expect Clare to go old school and bring a ferocious work rate and change of attitude with them to Cusack Park. That is the most basic requirement and if they deliver on that, they will have a chance of forging a result.

]]>Footballers pick up a point in Derryhttps://clarechampion.ie/footballers-pick-up-a-point-in-derry/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=footballers-pick-up-a-point-in-derry
Sun, 05 Feb 2017 16:32:43 +0000http://newsclarechampion.flywheelsites.com/?p=34796Clare 1-8 Derry 0-11 A James Kielt point, kicked from 40 yards, five minutes into injury time, snatched a late equaliser for Derry in the opening game of the NFL division 2 in Celtic Park on Sunday. This was a game that Clare created sufficient chances to win and in fact they kicked 15 wides …

A James Kielt point, kicked from 40 yards, five minutes into injury time, snatched a late equaliser for Derry in the opening game of the NFL division 2 in Celtic Park on Sunday. This was a game that Clare created sufficient chances to win and in fact they kicked 15 wides and missed at least two goal chances. However Clare goalkeeper Joe Hayes made two excellent saves while three Clare players were black carded in the second half. Clare had no substitute left to replace black carded Dean Ryan in the closing minutes.

Derry led 0-6 to 0-5 at half-time. Clare kicked eight first half wides and spurned great goal scoring chances when Seán Collins and Jamie Malone failed to capitalise on excellent opportunities. Gary Brennan, playing his second game inside 19 hours, made several energetic runs from midfield and was involved in creating some of Clare’s first half points.

Midfielder Ciaran Russell put over Clare’s first point, following a brace of Enda Lynn scores, which put Derry into an early lead. Eoin Cleary with two frees, Liam Markham and Seán Collins completed Clare’s first half tally, while James Kielt and Carlus McWilliams (0-2 each) added to Lynn’s early scores for the home county.

Jamie Malone put away Clare’s goal, eight minutes into the second half. It was the first score of that half and put them into a 1-5 to 0-6 lead. It followed an excellent move involving Ciaran Russell, Gary Brennan, Keelan Sexton and Seán Collins. Eoin Cleary and David Tubridy added points before Ciaran Russell kicked Clare a point up, four minutes into injury time. That was Russell’s second score from play and it looked as if Clare would close out the win.

However they spilled possession, when emerging from their own goals and eventually Kielt banged over a superb equaliser. Clare will play Down in Ennis next Sunday in their second league fixture.

A more comprehensive report in addition to interviews and analysis will be published in Thursday’s Clare Champion.

]]>Clare need a win and goals to progresshttps://clarechampion.ie/clare-need-a-win-and-goals-to-progress/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=clare-need-a-win-and-goals-to-progress
Sat, 18 Jul 2015 19:04:11 +0000http://newsclarechampion.flywheelsites.com/?p=24918Tipperary 2-18 Clare 0-11 Following a comprehensive defeat at the Ragg in Tipperary in their third round All-Ireland senior camogie championship game on Saturday, Clare now find themselves in the position that they must beat Derry on this Saturday and, in the process, score four goals if they are to get into the quarter finals. …

Following a comprehensive defeat at the Ragg in Tipperary in their third round All-Ireland senior camogie championship game on Saturday, Clare now find themselves in the position that they must beat Derry on this Saturday and, in the process, score four goals if they are to get into the quarter finals.

A win over Derry will leave Clare level on points with Dublin. When Clare and Dublin met two weeks ago they drew, so if they are level on points, according to competition rules, they will be separated by the number of goals scored during the league section of the competition.

To date Dublin have scored four goals while Clare have managed just one, hence the need to score four goals and, of course, beat Derry, on Saturday next in a game that will be played at a Clare venue.

Clare can have no arguments about the result of their clash with Tipperary who were much the sharper side from start to finish.

The writing was on the was from an early stage as the home side raced into an early lead. they had the aid of the wind in the first half and were 0-6 to 0-3 clear after the first quarter. By half time they had extended this marginto five points, 0-12 to 0-7.

Clare’s hopes of a rally suffered a massive blow inside the first minute of the new half. Straight from the resumption of play they launched an attack which ended with Megan Ryan blasting to the net. This score clearly rocked Clare and they never really recovered. By the three quarter stage Tipperary had extended their advantage to ten points and were dominating in most positions.

They had victory sealed well before substitute Nicole Walsh struck for their seco nd goal, a minute from the end of normal time.

Cait Devane who was named at full forward but lined out at corner forward, hit 0-11 for the winners and caused huge problems for a variety of Clare defenders. Megan Ryan, Caoimhe Maher, Mary Ryan and Anne Eviston were other to impress for the winners.

Maire McGrath, Orlaith Duggan and Roisin McMahon battled hard for Clare for whom Chloe Morey contributed 0-7 from frees but, overall, the Clare forward line failed to pose any major problems for the home side.